Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used

Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents
Introduction: What Is Enduring | What Is New | Keeping It Simple
Chapter 1 A Consultant by Any Other Name . . .
	Some Distinctions
	Consulting Skills Preview
	The Promise of Flawless Consultation
Part 1 Fundamentals
	Chapter 2 Techniques Are Not Enough
		Roles Consultants Choose
		Collaboration and the Fear of Holding Hands
		The Consultant’s Assumptions
		The Consultant’s Goals
		Developing Client Commitment—A Primary Goal of Each Consulting Act
	Chapter 3 Being Right––Really
		The Affective Side of the Client-Consultant Relationship
		The Business of Consulting
		Staging the Client’s Involvement, Step by Step
	Chapter 4 Flawless Consulting
		Being Authentic
		Completing the Requirements of Each Phase
		Results
		Accountability
		The Right to Fail
Part 2 Entry and Contracting
	Chapter 5 Contracting Overview
		Contracting: The Concept and the Skill
		Elements of a Contract
		Ground Rules for Contracting
	Chapter 6 The Contracting Meeting
		Who Is the Client?
		Navigating the Contracting Meeting
	Chapter 7 Some Nuances of Contracting
		Sent In
		Want In
		The Meeting as a Model of How You Work
		Closing the Contracting Meeting
		To Sum It Up
	Chapter 8 Some Agonies of Contracting
		When You Get Stuck
		The Problem with Saying “No”
		Dealing with Low Motivation
		Ceaseless Negotiation: The Shifting Tide of Your Role
		Some Other Specific Agonies
		Contracting Checkpoint
		After the Contracting Meeting
	Chapter 9 The Internal Consultant’s Dilemma
		Distinctions between Internal and External Consultants
		Triangles and Rectangles
Part 3 More Fundamentals
	Chapter 10 Understanding Resistance
		The Faces of Resistance
		What Are They Resisting When Clients Are Resisting?
		Underlying Concerns
		Sometimes It Is Not Resistance
		The Fear and the Wish
		Ogres and Angels . . .
		. . . and Heroics
	Chapter 11 Dealing with Resistance
		Three Steps for Handling Resistance
		Two Good-Faith Responses
		Consulting with a Stone
		Don’t Take It Personally
	Chapter 12 Technology: A Marriage of Myth, Convenience, and the Virtual Hour
Part 4 Discovery and Underlying Concerns
	Chapter 13 From Diagnosis to Discovery
		It Is Still the Relationship That Counts
		The Call to Action
		The Problem Is Not the Problem
		How the Problem Is Being Managed
		Flawless Discovery
	Chapter 14 Whole-System Discovery
		Third-Party Consulting
		Taking a Whole-System Approach
		Putting Whole-System Discovery to Work
		The Payoff
	Chapter 15 Discovering Gifts, Capacities, and Acting on What We Know
		When All Else Fails, Make a Reservation at the Last Resort
		The Power of Positive Deviance
		Implications for Consulting
		More Examples of Partnerships That Work
		Healthcare Reform for Real
		Teacher as Consultant
		The Choice in the Matter
Part 5 Analysis and the Decision to Act
	Chapter 16 Focusing on the Picture
		The Steps in Getting the Picture
		Don’t Worry Much about Bias
		Assessing Culture and How the Situation Is Being Managed
		The Discovery Interview
		Layers of Analysis
		Your Experience as Data
	Chapter 17 Preparing for Feedback
		A Clear Picture May Be Enough
		Condensing the Data
		Some Do’s and Don’ts
		Language in Giving the Picture
		Presenting the Picture . . . as Courtroom Drama
	Chapter 18 Managing the Meeting for Action
		How to Present the Picture
		Structuring the Meeting
		The Meeting for Action, Step by Step
		A Recap
		Resistance in the Meeting
		When Group Members Are at Odds among Themselves
Part 6 Engagement and Implementation
	Chapter 19 Implementation
		Choosing Engagement over Installation
		Deciding Doesn’t Get It Done
		The Limits of Installation
		Betting on Engagement
	Chapter 20 The Structures of Engagement
		The Meeting Is the Message
		Eight Ways to Engage
		The Point
Part 7 Extension, Recycle, or Termination
	Chapter 21 Transformation Will Not Be Televised, Livestreamed, or Managed
		Choosing Learning over Teaching
		All Learning Is Social
		We Are Responsible for Each Other’s Learning
		Nothing to Wait For
		If Change Is Necessary, Who Goes First?
		The Final Question Is One of Faith
Online Appendix Handy Checklists You Can Use
Further Reading
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Index
EULA